Featherweight Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire says Bellator allowed him to make living

Before Patricio “Pitbull” Freire joined the ranks of Bellator, he had to rely upon his family to support him.

Two years after signing with the tournament-based promotion, the native of Natal, Brazil, said he can return the favor.

“I can pay my bills; I can help my family,” Freire told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I have money for myself, and I can help those people close to me.”

After winning $100,000 as the winner of the Season 4 tournament, Freire (17-1 MMA, 5-1 BFC) could climb another ladder on the financial rung if he’s successful in taking the Bellator featherweight title from champ Pat Curran (17-4 MMA, 7-1 BFC), whom he meets Jan. 17 at Bellator 85 at Bren Center in Irvine, Calif.

The fight opens the Spike TV-televised main-card following prelims on Spike.com.

The Brazilian could also take a big step up in notoriety. Back home, he’s been fighting for so long that people around town know he’s a Bellator fighter. But it’s when he flies stateside that the impact of his work is most apparent.

“When I go to a city I’ve never been to, and the taxi guy knows who I am, and the guy at the bar comes to say hello and asks for a picture, saying that they saw me on TV,” Freire said.

For more than a year, only his immediate circle of friends and family has kept tabs on him. After winning Bellator’s Season 4 tournament, he’s waited on the sidelines as the promotion worked out kinks in its scheduling. A fight against Curran scheduled for this past August was delayed when the champ broke his orbital bone in training.

But Freire returns to a much bigger stage as part of Bellator’s long-awaited debut on Spike TV, which is likely to double its viewing audience.

Curran, too, has sat on the sidelines for an extended period, so both could be dealing with ring rust.

“He’s a very conservative guy that doesn’t throw too many punches,” Freire said. “When he does it, it’s to finish the fight.”

Curran sees the same finishing instincts in his opponent, who represents the first defense of his title. But there’s a key difference.

“We saw with the Joe Warren fight where he blew his load and gassed out,” Curran said. “He’s very powerful, very explosive, and with two years off, it’s really hard to see how his style has changed or what to expect in the fight. But you’ve got to watch out for his power.”

Indeed, Warren handed Freire his only loss under the Bellator banner. But with two tournaments behind him, he’s ready to vie for a title. While Bellator fighters can now receive immediate rematches if they deliver impressively, he wants to reach his goal in one outing.

“It’s pretty good that you can have the chance to fight again, but I’m training and doing my best to finish this fight,” Freire said.

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